According to the U.S. Department of Labor , the country’s unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in December, the highest it’s been in two years.
The department said the number of unemployed people in the country was 7.7 million in December. During the same month last year, the department reported 6.8 million unemployed people and a jobless rate of 4.4 percent.
Job growth in several service-providing industries, including professional and technical services, health care, and food services, was offset by job losses in construction and manufacturing, the department said.
December average hourly earnings rose by $0.07, or 0.4 percent.
